Extreme Ways

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http://youtube.com/watch?v=g7to4pIxhr4

“Extreme Ways” … a new instrumental arrangement of the well-known song by Moby. • Moby released this song in 2002. However, most people know it through the very successful Jason Bourne films. It is used in all 4 films – in each case, it influenced the underscore of the film in various ways and was featured in its entirety during each film’s ending credit roll. In addition, for the 4th film Moby worked closely with the film’s composer/orchestrator James Newton Howard on a purely orchestral version of the song for the film, which was used along with the lyrical song. • Moby is both a phenomenal multi-instrument musician and composer. His early influences include punk and 1990s rock. He then moved into electronica and has become a prime influence on modern club and dance music with his driving rhythms and song structure. His success has been well earned and he tries hard to give back to society as well: • Moby is also a socially responsible person with a keen interest in animal rights, human rights, etc. In his biography he more fully describes his journey through life, including his fall into the typical success spiral of a rock musician – reaching the low point of missing his own mother’s funeral service due to the snowballing of various addictive pastimes. Following that wake-up call, he remade himself and left the world of excessive behavior. • He not only talks the talk, but he also walks it too and is more than willing to help others in their journey. • The lyrics of “Extreme Ways” certainly reflect a fall into failure due to an excessive, uncaring lifestyle and the rise from that when one ceases such behaviors because things fall apart – “they always do” to quote his lyric. • • MUSIC INSIGHTS: • The complexity of Moby’s original arrangement features layers of instruments playing interlocked syncopated rhythms and counter melodies. None of the individual musical parts are that easy to play as the syncopation needs to be hit spot on each time. Practice is definitely needed … • The harmonic structure though is quite simple: there are essentially 3 chords used in the entire piece of music – B minor, A major and E minor. Basically, the song, as performed, is in the key of B minor and uses the occasional B minor 6th and E minor 6th chord voicings as transitions in addition to the simple triadic versions of its chords. The melody stays within the B minor modal scale, with occasional passing notes. • The song has a basic verse/chorus structure that also incorporates a pre-chorus transition phrase. • For this arrangement, I use several instrument layers. The piano layer is carried by two pianos – an acoustic grand and a Scarbee 200 electric piano. The bass is a combination of an acoustic upright bass with a synth bass. The melody is carried by no less than four guitars – one nylon acoustic and three electric guitars. There is also a lone synth voice – a 1980s style synth capable of some wonderful portamento. • The percussion is first handled by a standard drum kit using the kick drum, high hat, and snare. However, as the song develops, I bring typical Indian Tabla (a drum set featuring two hand drums) which then weave around the standard drum kit. • Gluing this all together is a Didgeridoo – bringing a bit of an air of mystique to the arrangement and adding a bit of primal sound and rhythm. It works particularly well with the portamento capable synth later in the arrangement. • • VIDEO INSIGHTS: • Often, I follow a song’s lyrics to build the music video. However, in this case I decided on a very different approach. Given the title, I chose to show extreme sports and activities. These are things that we can all aspire to and which also require clear heads and strong bodies – very much along the line of where Moby’s journey has taken him in his life … • • Please do indicate if you like the music and/or music video – it would encourage me to release other new works. Also, please do subscribe to this channel so that you get announcements of all future releases. • • “Extreme Ways” was arranged, performed, and recorded in mid-May 2024 using Ableton Live with instrument voices from the sample libraries of Ableton, UVI and Native Instruments. The post processing and master mix was done with iZotope Ozone 9. • • At some time in the future, it will be released for streaming. • • Be sure to subscribe here and follow-on social media or signup for the weekly newsletter through the Solo Hands website (if you sign up for our newsletter, you will also receive our free eBook, Musical Notes – Composing Arranging): • http://www.solohands.com • Facebook: @SoloHandsMusic • Instagram: @SoloHandsMusic

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